Compartments in car fridges

I use the Waeco CF50 and find this big enough for our needs. Always have cold beer and cider on the top. Run it cold enough to freeze the meat at the bottom. If you are going for a larger one then I would get one with 2 compartments.

Peter

I don't personally don't see the need for a freezer but some like to bring ice-creams for the kids. And unless you will be away from civilisation for a number of weeks an 80/110l fridge is pretty big and not just physically!

Leroy

I'm currently thinking about the same thing. I'm leaning towards getting a combo fridge/freezer - that is, running it purely as a fridge for weekends away (should be able to run it for a couple of days off battery without starting the car), and running it as a freezer for Big Trips where I'm on the move most days (then I can just swap blocks of ice between the freezer and the eskies). Maybe someone out there is using this sort of system and can let us know how it goes...

T-Bone.

I used to use the Engel SS80 Combo and it was fine as a permanent 2 compartment unit however the fridge is about 32L and is very narrow yet tall and the freezer is about 44L and square. So the freezer is much larger and useable than the fridge. When the freezer contents was used or if you had nothing to freeze in the first place you could just use the freezer compartment as the fridge and turn the dial down a bit. However this makes the fridge section next to useless. So you then have a 44L fridge and 32L wasted space.

I just bought myself a Waeco CF-80 and I find it far more practical to have the option of a small freezer and large fridge (opposite to SS80 Combo) or a big arse fridge (not possible in SS80 Combo).

Hope this helps.

Aussichef firstly, do you really need an 80 or 110litre fridge. As others have pointed out they are large physically and take a lot of power in a day - like 84amps +++ and that is at 5°C on a 30°C day. If my mental maths treats me well, for every 1°C colder you make the fridge, that will be in the order of 9 amps more per day. Yes, a considerable amount of power.
The other issue with the two compartment fridges, their are neither a fridge or a freezer, and the temperature control in both sides is not easy to control. In the fridge part, to get even temperature, you really have to fit an air circulating fan. Those 40mm or 50mm 12vDC fans that switches on and off with the thermostat.
If you go for a 50litre fridge, and have a Sunbeam Food Preserver that will go towards storing meat etc. for an extended time. I have had an imported unit that I have used for many years and found it to be fabulous. While these type of thing have been available in the past in Australia in small automatic units like this model Sunbeam, they have been extortionate prices of around $400.00. We run our fridge at 2°C to 3°C and never had any issues with anything not lasting. The cost of a 50L fridge and a Sunbeam Food Preserver is a long way cheaper than a 80L or 100L fridge.

This is what I posted only yesterday on the MSN Senior Travellers Forum
Vacuum packaging can extend food life and the table below is from the excellent Sunbeam Instruction book (PDF File) available on their website for download.
I believe vacuum packaging to be a more cost effective and better option to those two zone chest type fridges - which are neither one or the other, and do not maintain the correct temperature for food storage - usually in both compartments. Once you have had a dehydrator and vacuum packaging unit, you would not be without either. I can highly recommend this method of food storage for campers and caravaner's. We also have a food dehydrator and vacuum pack all the dehydrated food.

TRADITIONAL STORAGE TIMES WITH
Refrigerated foods ( 5± 2ºC) STORAGE TIMES FOOD PRESERVER
Red meat 3-4 days 8-9 days
White meat 2-3 days 6-9 days
Whole fish 1-3 days 4-5 days
Game 2-3 days 5-7 days
Sliced cured meats 4-6 days 20-25 days
Soft cheese 5-7 days 14-20 days
Hard and semi-hard cheese 15-20 days 25-60 days
Vegetables 1-3 days 7-10 days
Fruit 5-7 days 14-20 days

Cooked and Refrigerated foods (5 ± 2ºC)
Purees and vegetable soups 2-3 days 8-10 days
Pasta and risotto 2-3 days 6-8 days
Boiled and roast meats 3-5 days 10-15 days
(full chart in Sunbeam Instruction book)

yep 80 appears large for most instances.

fridge or freezer....depends on whether you take icecream and a few other delicacies with you not.

as above cryovac will hold meat for ages......

When we go away (4 blokes) we take a esky full of home made ice for cans and perishables such as marg and opened packet food stuffs....run fridge as freezer to keep icecream and prawns and cray for cunsumption later in week....works for us!!

I have an Explorer, its got a 30L fridge compartment and a 15L freezer with internal lid for the freezer. What do i put in the freezer ? Frozen bait. If you've ever had defrosted pillies seep into your food fridge you'd understand.

Makes a great work bench too, though probably not too good for the seal (which is dead easy to replace anyhow).

Also good for ice and frozen steaks and such. When I don't need the freezer I turn it all down and the freezer becomes my chiller on about 1 degree C and the fridge becomes the cooler on about 8 degrees C. As a chef i think you'd appreciate that.

The other thing to watch is that with the Engel MT60F Combi, if you run it as a fridge only (by removing the 'freezer compartment' lid you effectively end up with a fridge in the freezer comparment & a dairy compartment in the normal fridge area.

This is because the normal fridge area doesn't work until the freezer area reaches 2 degrees.

I'm pretty sure I'm accurately paraphrasing what Engel told me (or at least I think I am). :}

G'day Warren, If you looked into my rig at Robe, you would have seen my trailblazer which is a 70litre unit. They are a very good fridge but a bit heavy cos of the insulation. (you may need to upgrade to a yota to carry it as the troll suspension could collapse under the weight LOL)
seriously, if you run the fridge at around the 4-5 setting, the bottom will freeze and the top stays cold. You can buy them up to 110+litres. They have a web site, try trailblazer fridges through google.
Can I order my meat through you for the next trip lol